For Eddie Howe, being back on Newcastle United’s training pitches in Benton will have been cathartic.
Victor Munoz has already joined Liverpool, Johan Manzambi is Aston Villa-bound and, although three exciting youngsters have been acquired, the Newcastle first XI currently appears depleted following the sales of Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali for up to a combined, and impressive, £170million ($229.5m), while uncertainty lingers over Bruno Guimaraes’ future, given Arsenal’s seemingly indirect interest in Howe’s captain.
On Monday, those Newcastle players who did not represent their nations at the World Cup returned to the renamed “The KNOX” — the sports-drink company is paying £6million per season to be the club’s first-ever training-ground sponsor — and underwent testing, before taking part in some rigorous sessions.
That core group numbered around a dozen. Sean Steur and Ewen Jaouen, the club’s new midfielder and goalkeeper, have trained, while Bazoumana Toure, the winger signed from Hoffenheim, will join up with his new team-mates later this month.
England’s Dan Burn is still in the United States ahead of Saturday’s third-place play-off against France, while Brazilian Guimaraes, DR Congo’s Yoane Wissa and Anthony Elanga of Sweden, as well as Germany duo Nick Woltemade and Malick Thiaw, will filter back to Tyneside at varying intervals, with all players afforded at least three weeks off after the end of their country’s World Cup adventure.
Although there has been the positive sight of Lewis Miley running on the grass after a broken leg, the 20-year-old midfielder is unlikely to feature until deeper into pre-season, and the same is true for Tino Livramento, the 23-year-old right-back who pulled out of the England squad shortly before the World Cup began to have a calf operation. The hope is that both will be fit for the opening Premier League match at home against Liverpool on Sunday, August 23.
Lewis Miley is back running on grass, but is unlikely to feature until later in Newcastle’s pre-season (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
To bolster numbers, as is usually the case early during pre-season, Howe has invited a host of Robbie Stockdale’s under-21s squad to join the senior sessions. More are expected to be given first-team opportunities in the coming weeks, too.
Newcastle’s under-18s are currently in Marcoussis, near Paris, for a training camp. Sam Alabi, a midfielder who was named in four senior squads last season, including the Champions League trip to Marseille, is on that trip but may feature when he returns. Mason Miley, also 17, a midfielder who is the younger brother of Lewis and signed his first professional contract this week, and fellow 17-year-old Isaac Moran, a defender who has trained with the first team on occasion, have been at the academy, training with Stockdale’s side, yet may come into consideration.
The youth ranks are being bolstered, too, with sporting director Ross Wilson keen to keep boosting the quality at the academy.
Johan Martinez, an Ecuadorian winger, will only join from Independiente del Valle once he turns 18 next May, but multiple domestic signings are also in the works. Kyran Thompson, a much-coveted 16-year-old attacker, is set to arrive from Arsenal, while right-back Kyle Healy-Matthews, also 16, is expected to move from West Ham United.
For now, though, with Joe White having left permanently for League Two outfit Crewe Alexandra after a decade on Tyneside, and Harrison Ashby spending the coming campaign on loan at League One side Luton Town, less experienced members of the academy setup are in line for first-team opportunities.
With north-east neighbours Darlington, from the sixth-tier National League North, providing behind-closed-doors opposition for Newcastle’s first friendly of the summer on Saturday, The Athletic profiles some of the youngsters who have been training with the senior squad and are pushing for first-team minutes during pre-season.
Sean Neave
As with Aidan Harris and Leo Shahar (we’ll come to them later), Neave has pretty much been training with the first team full-time for an extended period. While he still played regularly for the under-19s and under-21s last season, he is considered a member of Howe’s squad.
The 19-year-old forward made his senior debut in February, coming off the bench late in the 6-1 Champions League win against Qarabag in Azerbaijan, but that was his only appearance, despite regularly appearing in matchday squads, until another runout as a substitute at Fulham on the final day of the season. There was disappointment among sections of the fanbase that Neave was not given more of an opportunity over the run-in, especially given how Woltemade and Wissa struggled.
Sean Neave is considered a member of Eddie Howe’s senior squad at age 19 (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
He is likely to get significant game-time this pre-season — he did make a few friendly appearances last year, too — and may yet force his way into Howe’s plans, even if Will Osula is the favourite to start the new season at centre-forward. Neave has also been used as a wide forward, as a No 10 and even as a No 8 during training.
A loan move may aid Neave’s development, given he looks a cut above at under-21 level, but Howe will likely want significantly greater numbers in the squad (and further signings to arrive) before sanctioning that.
Park Seung-soo, Trevan Sanusi and Matheos Ferreira
With Toure taking Barcelona-bound Gordon’s spot in the squad, Newcastle will be relatively well stocked in wide attacking positions once the 20-year-old Ivory Coast international and Elanga join pre-season (even if an exit for Jacob Murphy is not out of the question).
For now, Murphy and Harvey Barnes are the senior wingers, with Park, Sanusi and Ferreira offering greater depth.
Park made some exciting cameos in friendlies in his homeland South Korea just after signing last summer, and the 19-year-old was occasionally in the first-team squad in his debut year without ever being handed a debut. The left-winger is likely to take part in the Asian Games which start in Japan in September, but will be looking to play for Howe in the interim.
Sanusi made his first-team debut as a substitute in the FA Cup third round against League Two side Bromley in January 2025, though he has had a frustrating time since. An unexpected loan to Ligue 1 side Lorient last summer was hampered by injury and he did not make an appearance in the league. The 19-year-old is likely to head out temporarily again in the coming season.
At 17, Ferreira has made significant strides this calendar year, rising from the under-18s, for whom he scored a hat-trick in the FA Youth Cup win against Portsmouth in December, to the under-21s, to now training with the first team. Born locally in Ashington, the winger has Brazilian parents, while his mother is of Italian descent, so he is eligible to play for both those nations as well as England.
Park Seung-soo is set to play for South Korea in the Asian Games when they start in September (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Aidan Harris
With Odysseas Vlachodimos having been borrowed by Sevilla for a second season, Aaron Ramsdale back at parent club Southampton following his underwhelming year’s loan and John Ruddy retiring at age 39, Howe’s goalkeeping department has been depleted somewhat, even following Jaouen’s acquisition from Reims.
Nick Pope has reported for pre-season training and will not be permitted to leave unless another No 1 arrives, with Manchester City’s James Trafford, also still on World Cup duty with England, the priority target. Mark Gillespie, 34, is a training goalkeeper, making only three senior appearances in his six years with Newcastle, all of them in the 2020-21 Carabao Cup.
Harris has been training full-time with the first team since returning from a successful half-season loan at Northern Ireland’s Coleraine in January. The 19-year-old was named on the bench against Milan at San Siro in the Champions League aged just 16 and scored with a clearance from his own half during an under-21 victory over their Fulham counterparts in February.
Found the clip 🎥
Goalkeeper, Aidan Harris, scores from his own half in Newcastle United U21’s win v Fulham 🚀
Full highlights are in the Official Newcastle United App now 📲 https://t.co/T1DSRNK7ug pic.twitter.com/FKWOMSfRMT
— Newcastle United (@NUFC) February 20, 2026
Whether Harris is given game time during any of the upcoming friendlies is unclear, given Pope, Jaouen and Gillespie are training.
Leo Shahar and Dylan Charlton
Full-back is where Newcastle are most stretched currently. Lewis Hall is available to play on the left but on the other flank, Livramento (and Miley, who can play there) is still undergoing rehab, while Kieran Trippier and Emil Krafth left the club over the summer. Jacob Murphy could fill in at right-back in an emergency.
Shahar made his senior debut off the bench late in the Champions League second-leg home win against Qarabag, a match many felt he warranted a start in, given the injuries Newcastle had at full-back in February.
The 19-year-old has been regularly training with the first team for around 18 months and is likely to get minutes over the coming weeks. Whether he heads out on loan may depend upon how many full-backs are signed, with Howe seeking at least one, but ideally more.
Leo Shahar made his senior debut as a substitute against Qarabag (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
With Burn still at the World Cup and then on holiday, the only natural senior alternative to Hall on the left is Alex Murphy, a 22-year-old Irishman Howe does not appear to fully trust. Charlton, 20, has been a regular for the under-21s and may get an opportunity at that position.
Miodrag Pivas and Anthony Munda
One of the few signings made during Paul Mitchell’s tenure as sporting director, Pivas joined from Jedinstvo Ub in his native Serbia in summer 2024 before immediately heading out on loan to Willem II of the Netherlands.
The now 21-year-old can play centre-back or in defensive midfield and, following a serious shoulder injury 18 months ago, has become a dependable performer for Newcastle’s second string. Even if Pivas plays in pre-season, it seems unlikely he will break into Howe’s first-team plans, though he did train with them on Wednesday.
Munda, 19, has intermittently trained with the seniors over the past couple of seasons and the energetic midfielder is primed for a loan move in the new season. Able to play as a No 6 or as a No 8, Munda’s adaptability may prove useful during the friendlies. Rory Finneran, an 18-year-old midfielder who made his full Republic of Ireland debut against Grenada in May, may also be in line for a first-team opportunity.
